What Happens if You Bleach Red Hair? A hairdresser tells you here...

woman shows her red hair

If you bleach red hair, it will turn orange.
If you bleach dark red hair, the result will be dark orange hair. And if you bleach light red hair, the result will be light orange hair.
Therefore, after bleaching red hair, you should apply a blue toner or include a blue toning shampoo in your hair care routine. I’ll tell you the difference between the two later on.

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Now you know that if you bleach red hair, it will always turn orange.

And depending on the intensity of the red tone of your hair, the result of bleaching will be a darker or lighter orange.

In other words, if you bleach red hair, it will never turn yellow or brown.

If your hair is dark red (3.6, 4.6) , the result will be dark orange.
If your hair is medium red (5.6, 6.6) , the result will be a medium orange.
If your hair is light red (7.6, 8.6 o 9.6) , the result will be a light orange.

But, as a professional colorist, I have a recommendation for you.

If you’re tired of having red hair, either because it takes a lot of maintenance or because you simply want to have your hair a different color, go to a salon for a change of look.

Because red, along with black, are the most difficult colors to remove because of the amount of pigmentation they contain. In other words, we’re talking about at least five bleachings here to remove the red color.

And if you’re not experienced in bleaching, you can irreversibly ruin your hair.

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Do you have bleaching experience? Are you willing to bleach your red hair?

Well, after bleaching your hair, you still have a long way to go to get hair that’s free of harsh colors. And that’s what I’ll talk about next.

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Remember you should use a blue toner or a blue toning shampoo after bleaching red hair

orange hair after bleaching red hair

Now you know. After bleaching red hair, you’ll get orange. And I doubt you want to go through life with a carrot-colored head.

So, you have two options.

Apply a blue toner.
Use a blue shampoo to gradually neutralize the harsh orange.

And here again, I must make a recommendation.

You apply toner with 20-volume developer. This means that after bleaching your hair at least five times to get it to orange, you will again have to subject your hair to a chemical process.

Whether or not it will withstand it will depend on the health of your hair. It will also depend on your coloring experience, although if you’ve already bleached your hair five times, I assume you have some understanding of chemical processes.

Remember, it’s vital you control the exposure times of the toner so your hair doesn’t turn completely blue. Generally, you leave toner to act for a maximum of 20 minutes.

Let’s say that you’ve bleached your red hair several times and you’ve got orange hair. You feel your hair won’t withstand the toner. I advise you not to take any risks.

You can use a blue toning shampoo . Unlike toner, you don’t apply it with developer or ammonia.

dark pigments

Blue shampoo deposits a film of color on the outer layer of the hair, neutralizing the orange. That’s right.

Be warned that blue shampoo will neutralize orange hair gradually. In other words, the orange won’t disappear the first time you wash your hair with the blue shampoo.

You will need to shampoo your hair at least two or three times to completely remove the orange.

Now once you’ve neutralized the orange, another stage begins for your hair: recovery.

Use moisturizing shampoo and conditioner formulated with natural oils, deep-moisturizing oils, and proteins.
Wash your hair less frequently. Ideally, a maximum of three washes per week.
Apply a keratin or natural oil mask once a week.
Don’t overuse heat tools, which wear out the color and dry out the hair. If you do need to use them, remember to apply a heat protectant to your hair.